Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM Stresses on Citizen Awareness in Disaster Management

The Prime Minister chaired the first meeting of the National Disaster Management Authority. The Prime Minister observed that the setting up of the Authority marks a "paradigm shift" in the Government's approach to disaster management from compartmentalized to integrated and from a purely response/relief-centric approach to a more holistic one, covering all aspects like prevention, mitigation, preparedness, relief, response and rehabilitation.

The Prime Minister stressed the importance of citizen awareness in dealing with disaster management. He advised the Authority to develop as a high-level policy-making body capable of providing advice and assistance to states during times of disaster. It should be an efficient clearing house for relevant information, lead in capacity building at all levels and ensure that disaster management proceeds in an orderly and cost-effective manner. The objective is to provide focused attention to disaster management, bring to bear the best possible expertise and to generally professionalise the entire gamut of disaster management activities. The Prime Minister reviewed preparedness to deal with different types of terrorist attacks.

The Authority took a number of important decisions to enable it to function better. It was decided to associate the Ministers of Agriculture, Finance and Home Affairs as well as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission with future meetings of the Authority. Immediate relief and response was assigned to the National Executive Committee. Certain categories of disasters need a broader approach and need involvement of other agencies. Therefore, it was decided to continue to have the existing arrangements under the National Crisis Management Committee for dealing with such crises.

The Vice Chairman Gen (Retd.) N.C. Vij, Members Shri B. Bhattacharjee, Lt Gen (Retd.) Dr. J.R. Bhardwaj, Dr. Mohan Kanda, Prof. N.V.C. Menon, Shri M.S. Reddy, Smt. P. Jyoti Rao, Shri J.K. Sinha, Shri K.M. Singh, National Security Advisor Shri M.K. Narayanan, Principal Secretary to PM Shri T.K.A. Nair and Cabinet Secretary Shri K.M. Chandrasekhar participated in the meeting.